No political will to address taxi violence: NTA

Taxi killings continue due to a lack of political will to address the scourge, says the National Taxi Alliance (NTA).

Its comments come after another taxi killing. A taxi boss had been ambushed and shot dead outside his home in Alexandra on Monday.

Speaking to POWER Update host Tumisang Ndlovu, NTA spokesperson Theo Malele says: “There seems not to be a political will to address these incidents of violence.”

He says taxi unions met in 2016 to discuss challenges facing the industry.

“We had five commissions. One commission spoke about taxi violence. Clear resolutions were made and until today not one of these have been effected. This is squarely because of the lack of political will in Gauteng.”

Malele says the taxi killings are “barbarism”.

He calls on government to tighten gun laws.

“Gun laws need to be stricter. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is brandishing a gun, even in the taxi industry and this can never be left unabated.”

Monday’s taxi shooting comes three days after a mass shooting in KwaZulu-Natal which left 11 people dead.